Izakaya with a tree-shaded patio near Jeongja Station: Bacha Jeongja

After filling up on grilled eel at Mansuheon, I went looking for a good bar with a nice atmosphere for round two.

The evenings have been so cool and lovely lately that I wanted a place with outdoor tables. So here's my review of Bacha Jeongja, a cooking-pub with a great mood and an incredible variety of dishes to go with your drinks.

Where is Bacha Jeongja, and what about parking?

Bacha Jeongja is a 5-minute walk from Exit 3 of Jeongja Station (Shinbundang Line and Suin-Bundang Line), and it's open every day from 17:00 to 02:00. It's close to the eel place we went to first, so it made a perfect course.

If you come by car, the building's parking lot offers 1 hour of free parking. But since this is an izakaya (Japanese-style pub) with so many kinds of drinks, I'd recommend public transport so you can relax.

Inside Bacha Jeongja and the outdoor tables

The interior feels more like a softly lit bar, and in front of the shop there are outdoor tables under the shade of trees. The name "Bacha" is said to combine "bar" and pocha (a Korean street-style tent pub).

Maybe that's why the inside felt stylish and upscale, more like a bar with its gentle lighting,

but it wasn't too heavy or stuffy, so it was perfect for drinking and chatting comfortably.

My favorite part was the outdoor tables in front of the shop!

The tables sit among thick, leafy trees, so even when we came early in the evening no sun beat down on us and a pleasant cool breeze blew. Maybe because the weather has been so nice lately, the outdoor tables filled up before the indoor seats.

Bacha Jeongja menu: what food and drinks are there?

You order on a tablet menu at Bacha Jeongja, and the food is wildly varied: the signature Bacha seafood steam pot, plus hot pots, boiled pork slices, gambas, pasta and desserts. I sat down and slowly scrolled through the tablet, and there were so many dishes that I got stuck deciding what to order.

The signature dish is the Bacha seafood steam pot, but there's also everything from brisket and beef-tendon hot pot to sous-vide pork jowl boiled pork slices,

gambas, pasta, chicken, nabe (Japanese hot pot), cheese and fruit platters, and all kinds of desserts. Honestly, there was nothing they didn't have.

With that much food, the drink list was just as dazzling. Besides basic soju and beer, they had cocktails, highballs, traditional Korean liquor, whisky and wine.

You can also order bottles of whisky and wine, so it's a cooking-pub where you can pick drinks to your own taste.

How were the Bacha seafood steam pot and hotteok ice cream?

At Bacha Jeongja we ordered the Bacha seafood steam pot (₩37,000), hotteok (Korean sweet filled pancake) ice cream (₩12,000), Smoky Water highball (₩13,000) and cream draft beer (₩4,900), 8 glasses of it.

• Bacha seafood steam pot ₩37,000
• Hotteok ice cream ₩12,000
• Smoky Water highball ₩13,000
• Cream draft beer ₩4,900 (×8)

Bacha seafood steam pot piled high with clams

True to its name, the Bacha seafood steam pot looked like the whole sea had been moved onto our table, packed with clams.

Before eating, I quickly pulled out the clam shells, and they piled up into a mountain like this. That's how many clams were in there.

Besides clams there was other seafood like shrimp and squid, plus vegetables like bean sprouts and bok choy, so the broth tasted clean and refreshing.

Hotteok ice cream for dessert

I was craving something sweet, so I ordered the hotteok ice cream: sweet ice cream on top of warm, chewy hotteok, and a lovely sweetness filled my whole mouth.

Add a smooth cream draft beer and, wow: great mood, great food, great drinks. It was a very satisfying round two.

Is Bacha Jeongja worth it for round two?

The evenings are so cool and nice these days, so I recommend Bacha Jeongja, with its outdoor tables and wide range of dishes and drinks. It's an izakaya-style pub with everything, so whoever you go with, everyone can enjoy it their own way!